Apollo Crews has opened up about the moment his WWE career came to an end, revealing he received the call while watching his son’s basketball practice.

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the former United States and Intercontinental Champion explained that he had already started preparing himself for the news. After limited television time, a change to his travel arrangements following WrestleMania raised concerns.

“That week I kind of had an idea, because it was WrestleMania the week before, and I hadn’t been doing anything on TV, and I got called in to do some appearances at WrestleMania, which was pretty cool,” Crews said. “I think the two years before that, I just stayed at home for both WrestleManias.”

Those concerns grew when he learned WWE would not need him at SmackDown.

“I think it was Wednesday after Mania, I got a call from travel, and they said that I’m not needed for SmackDown this week. So I’ll be staying home,” Crews said. “And at that moment, I instantly knew. I was like, okay, Friday they’re gonna call me, and this is gonna be it.”

Crews was released on April 24 as part of a wider round of WWE departures. Having spent Friday expecting his phone to ring, the call finally arrived during a family commitment.

“I get my son to basketball practice around like 5 p.m., and here the call comes. Forty-five-second call, just explaining the situation,” Crews said.

Despite imagining that conversation many times during his WWE career, Crews found his initial reaction difficult to explain. Watching colleagues lose their jobs over the years had already left him questioning why he remained.

“I’d almost developed like this survivor’s remorse, because I’m like, man, how come I’m still here?” Crews said. “I always pictured what it would be like, but when it happened, it was nothing like I pictured.”

“I didn’t really feel anything. And when I said I didn’t feel anything, it wasn’t like, ah, I don’t care,” Crews said. “I think I just didn’t give it enough time to process. The fact that I did expect it kind of helped soften the blow.”

With his son still at practice, Crews knew his immediate priority was being there as a parent.

“I was at basketball practice with my son, so I was like, okay, I have to still be a dad,” Crews said. “Once this practice is over, I can’t just sulk in my misery until we get home. He knows nothing about what’s going on with the job, and even if I explained it to him, he just couldn’t understand it.”

He immediately texted his wife, who already knew he thought a release was likely. The family then extended a planned visit to her native Finland into a month-long stay, giving Crews some space to consider life beyond WWE.

“Eleven years is a long time to be tied up in the company, and a lot of my identity was inside WWE,” Crews said. “So I was like, I need to figure out who I am outside of this company.”

During that time, he bought a bicycle and returned to David Goggins’ book. Pushing himself physically became one way of working through the change.

“Let me push myself to the physical limit and see if I can find out who I am outside of this place,” Crews said. “I think it was my way of coping with these emotions.”

Family life also kept moving, giving him responsibilities and routines to focus on.

“Sometimes when you want to just kind of curl up into a ball and disappear, I didn’t have that opportunity,” Crews said. “I had two kids. I had a wife that still needed to go to school. My son had a basketball game the next day. I had neighbors that you got to talk to, people in your real life that you got to see. But their situation hasn’t changed, and yours has.”

Although adjusting after 11 years has taken time, Crews has begun to appreciate having more freedom over his days and the chance to explore something new.

“It always felt like I had somewhere to be when I was with the company,” Crews said. “I don’t even know if I’ve gotten all the way to that point yet. It’s only been a couple months. But I realized quickly, it’s not the end of the world. This is an opportunity for something new as well.”

Crews also believes a future WWE return could be possible, pointing to his conduct throughout his time with the company.

“I feel like I do, because what I try to do is leave the most positive outlook I can, no matter where I go,” Crews said. “I never got in trouble. I never did anything that was against the company policy or anything like that.”

“So I think if that option was on the table, I definitely would be a likely candidate,” Crews said. “I think that option would be there for sure. But it’s not something I’m sitting here just waiting and dying to happen.”

For now, his attention is increasingly turning towards sports nutrition. He is finishing a master’s degree in the subject and has started working with clients, including Ricochet.

“When I first got released, I was doing all these things to try to find who I was, and that just naturally came over these last couple months,” Crews said. “I’ve dove so deep into that that I’ve almost forgot that I was a wrestler, and it’s crazy to say, because that’s a huge part of my life.”

Wrestling remains part of his plans. Crews has returned to TNA using his former independent name, Uhaa Nation, and has a Dragon Gate appearance in Japan among his bookings. However, he is also laying the foundations for a career beyond the ring.

“At this moment, I am focused on other things and making sure that when it’s all said and done, I have something to do when wrestling’s done,” Crews said. “I’m not going to wrestle that long, but I can’t just not do anything. So it was about finding something that’s not as physically demanding as wrestling.”